Today is the sixth day since leaving Springer Mountain, the start of the northbound hike of the Appalachian Trail. I’m stealth camped at the Cheese Factory site.

No apparent reason it’s called the cheese factory. No ruins or any other indicators.

Today was a perfect Indian summer day – October 30. There’s rain in the forecast for tomorrow and Friday, but we’ll deal with that tomorrow.

It occurred to me that the fall might be the perfect time to start a thru hike for the right hikers with the skill to handle the winter months.

The advantages include low
population density on the trail, zero bugs, and with the right timing you might miss the mid-Atlantic heat, mud in Vermont, and the black flies in northern New England.

Now that I’ve logged over 200 AT miles since September, I’m toying with the idea of seeing how far I can get by Christmas; then dodging bad weather from January through March while logging as many miles as possible. It’s a thought.

All I’d have to do is finish before September 24th which is the day I stepped off from Rockfish Gap.

Some purists won’t like this, not that I would give a hoot. If I pursue this concept, I will have walked from Georgia to Maine within 12 consecutive months while passing every white blaze along the way.

Meanwhile, the hiking is delightful.